KASHMIR VALLEYS 199 



constantly gathering were torn aside for a few minutes. 

 They were fine samples of scenery that I saw that after- 

 noon, made up of snowy drifts, summer fields, stately 

 forests, large flowering shrubs, scarred hillsides, where 

 it was necessary to move with painful care among the 

 rolling stones and sharp rocks left by the movement of 

 some ancient glacier, and grass slopes starred with 

 thousands of blooms. Saving the Gujars seen in the 

 morning, I met no human being, but never did I feel 

 less lonely and seldom less weary, my leather sandals 

 being equally cool, light, and capable of clinging when 

 either treacherous grass or slippery stones had to be 

 negotiated. 



When after some eight hours of tramping I reached 

 my tents again, I was glad I had been away, for things 

 at the camp had not cheered. The servants had found 

 the grain to be much more expensive than at Srinagar, 

 and refused to be comforted though offered higher pay. 

 The cook declared that not only his arms were affected, 

 but he could no longer use his legs (I had seen him briskly 

 walking towards my tent before doubling up to impress 

 me with his suffering state) ; even " Mike Kuti " (the 

 dog Mike) was suffering from rheumatism. Moreover, 

 only one egg had been brought in, and the kettle 

 had knocked a hole in itself by falling off 

 its rocky perch. All these lesser ills were 

 forgotten in the speedy preparations necessary 

 against the advent of a wild storm of thunder 

 and rain, the deafening roar as it echoed from hill to 

 hill seeming unceasing. For one hour and a half the 

 sound continued without break, merely rising and dying 

 away alternately; troughs had to be made round the 

 tents to carry off the water, and our ground was little 

 better than a quagmire. 



